Not that I care which one. I can only hope that it's not the one where Zach Boren makes an over the shoulder catch while running toward the sideline an stumbles into and lands on LBJ's knee. Because that would break my fucking heart.

Tune in to ESPN2 tonight for a half hour special where they reveal which sideline he will stand on.

This is hilarious. I can see him at this ESPN special sitting at a table with both hats in front of him. Jim Gray: "LeBron..........., please reveal your selection."

Does The Vest have to OK who stands on the sidelines or is that an AD, President thing?

I don’t care if he was self-centered and egotistical. The man gave us seven years of sustained brilliance on the court, night in and night out. He almost never missed a game and he never had a bad game until the Boston series. I haven’t seen an athlete like this in Cleveland since Jim Brown.

Unlike a lot of NBA stars, he didn’t care about stats. He was just as happy to pass the ball as to score. A lot of stars are obsessed with getting their shots and making sure their stat line is full each game, but LeBron was fine with scoring 15 points if the Cavs won.

He threw himself into the lane again and again, taking the hard fouls and leading the league in free throw attempts or coming close to it every year. Unlike a lot of stars, he also played defense instead of conserving his energy for offense. Those chase down blocks were some of the most spectacular displays of athleticism I’ve ever seen. Last year he even asked to check the opponent’s best player, and when he decided to shut somebody down, they were shut down.

Off the court, LeBron never smashed himself up on a motorcycle. He never got a DWI. He never threw a punch at a guy half his size outside a bar. He didn’t sleep with thousands of women like Wilt and Magic or get busted for solicitation. As far as we know he was a good father to his kids and never embarrassed his girlfriend or the Cavs. As a parent myself, that counts a lot more to me than whether he was a Browns fan or what he drove in high school.

Did he demand special perks and favors? Yeah. Do I give a crap that he wanted the closest locker to the trainer’s room? Give me a break. Or that he wore a Yankees hat to a Tribe playoff game, or stiffed a waitress on a tip? Or insisted on special access for his entourage? Sorry, I don’t give a rip. Hell, he probably had a really good parking spot at the Gund, too. I’m surprised nobody has brought that up.

Not saying hi to Joe Tait in seven years is inexcusable, but the other crap is just crap. He’s been treated like a King since he was about 12 years old, so his LeBron-centric view of the world is understandable.

Do I wish he took the last shot more often and passed to the 3-point line less? Yes. For the first five years or so he either passed on the game winner or missed it. It took him several years to hit his first buzzer beater. I got the impression he was just as happy for someone else to take the last shot.

Do I wish he accepted the challenge of bringing a Championship to Cleveland, even at the risk of ending up as another HOF’er with no ring like Malone and Barkley? Yeah. Is he a wuss for passing on that challenge after failing for seven years? I guess it depends on how you define “wuss”.

LeBron was not perfect but the Cavs were begging for six more years of him, including all those things people are ripping him for now.

Somebody described him as “pathetic and loathsome”. He certainly had a hell of a sense of entitlement, but I think that might be overstating it just a bit.

Prosecutor wrote:This is gonna get me killed but I’m gonna say it anyway.

I don’t care if he was self-centered and egotistical. The man gave us seven years of sustained brilliance on the court, night in and night out. He almost never missed a game and he never had a bad game until the Boston series. I haven’t seen an athlete like this in Cleveland since Jim Brown.

Unlike a lot of NBA stars, he didn’t care about stats. He was just as happy to pass the ball as to score. A lot of stars are obsessed with getting their shots and making sure their stat line is full each game, but LeBron was fine with scoring 15 points if the Cavs won.

He threw himself into the lane again and again, taking the hard fouls and leading the league in free throw attempts or coming close to it every year. Unlike a lot of stars, he also played defense instead of conserving his energy for offense. Those chase down blocks were some of the most spectacular displays of athleticism I’ve ever seen. Last year he even asked to check the opponent’s best player, and when he decided to shut somebody down, they were shut down.

Off the court, LeBron never smashed himself up on a motorcycle. He never got a DWI. He never threw a punch at a guy half his size outside a bar. He didn’t sleep with thousands of women like Wilt and Magic or get busted for solicitation. As far as we know he was a good father to his kids and never embarrassed his girlfriend or the Cavs. As a parent myself, that counts a lot more to me than whether he was a Browns fan or what he drove in high school.

Did he demand special perks and favors? Yeah. Do I give a crap that he wanted the closest locker to the trainer’s room? Give me a break. Or that he wore a Yankees hat to a Tribe playoff game, or stiffed a waitress on a tip? Or insisted on special access for his entourage? Sorry, I don’t give a rip. Hell, he probably had a really good parking spot at the Gund, too. I’m surprised nobody has brought that up.

Not saying hi to Joe Tait in seven years is inexcusable, but the other crap is just crap. He’s been treated like a King since he was about 12 years old, so his LeBron-centric view of the world is understandable.

Do I wish he took the last shot more often and passed to the 3-point line less? Yes. For the first five years or so he either passed on the game winner or missed it. It took him several years to hit his first buzzer beater. I got the impression he was just as happy for someone else to take the last shot.

Do I wish he accepted the challenge of bringing a Championship to Cleveland, even at the risk of ending up as another HOF’er with no ring like Malone and Barkley? Yeah. Is he a wuss for passing on that challenge after failing for seven years? I guess it depends on how you define “wuss”.

LeBron was not perfect but the Cavs were begging for six more years of him, including all those things people are ripping him for now.

Somebody described him as “pathetic and loathsome”. He certainly had a hell of a sense of entitlement, but I think that might be overstating it just a bit.

Hey Windhorst, why didn't you tell us that was you posting as Pros. No wonder you say such ridiculous things in the Tribe forum, you're a basketball man.

LeBron was often a selfish passer, standing at the three point line pounding the ball into the ground, waiting for that perfect pass that would lead to a lay in at the rim without the other player having to do anything. Because when he made it, everyone would marvel at what a team player he was. Of course, most times he just chucked it up there.

LeBron was selfish enough to pass to Donyell Marshall for a game winner when he was at the rim, because his basketball identity and marketing was built around his unselfishness.

Why didn't he develop a post game? Because he didn't want to.

LeBron is unbelievably talented, and not selfish in the way people normally think of basketball players as selfish. But he damn sure was selfish, and sacrificed winning, both in the moment and in his style of play/repetoire so that everyone would always say "Oh, he's a complete player, and so unselfish, the greatest!".

Is selfishness in pursuit of winning selfish? Is unselfishness at the expense of winning unselfish?

I know more about pizza than you. Much more in fact. - Cerebral_DownTime

aoxo1 wrote:LeBron was selfish enough to pass to Donyell Marshall for a game winner when he was at the rim, because his basketball identity and marketing was built around his unselfishness.

You really believe he was thinking about his marketing his "brand" when he threw that pass? I think he just didn't like taking the last shot with the game on the line. He sure passed up a lot of them, and when he did shoot he almost always missed.

Michael Jordan was LeBron's hero and role model, and Jordan didn't pass the ball in crunch time. If LeBron was concerned about his "basketball identity and marketing" he would have made the winning shot. Nobody builds an identity by passing off to the Donyell Marshalls and Damon Joneses of the world when the game is on the line.

Clearly LeBron didn't spontaneously decide "I'll pass it off, so everyone thinks I'm an unselfish hero!", but rather had been playing that way for a long time and it was ingrained in him. His entire basketball identity was built on being a passer and unselfish, regardless of who he was passing to. Hell, the fact the guys SUCKED made it a win-win for him. They made it, he gets 90% of the credit, they miss... well, it's Donyell Marshall and isn't LeBron great for trusting his teammates?

Oh, and:

I know more about pizza than you. Much more in fact. - Cerebral_DownTime

Great video, Ax. I agree that passing to an open teammate on the last shot is a no-lose situation. If he hits it LeBron gets credit for setting up the winning shot and unselfishly passing the ball. If he misses, then the teammate missed an open shot and how is that LeBron's fault?

Like I said, I don't think LeBron really wants to take that last shot. He'd rather play it safe and pass off. Otherwise, he's a hell of a player who can do anything except post up. Every night he did something amazing. I'm really going to miss that.

As for your claim that "his entire basketball identity was built on being a passer", I think that's an overstatement. The man did win an NBA scoring title and is averaging about 30 a game for his career.

I have to compliment you, though. You're the first person I've ever heard make the argument that passing the ball to your teammates is selfish, and you did it very well.

Is it wrong of me to just start feeling ill when I see LeBron and his crew in heat jerseys on sportscenter

just seems like it's something that's the poster child of all that could possibly be wrong in the world of professional sports to me.

My dad always said to me that after 1995 and the move ordeal he despised pro sports and what it had become, and now I perfectly understand why.

Swerb wrote:Go start a blog if you want to tell the world your incomprehendible ramblings.

Cerebral_DownTime wrote:I have a big arm and can throw the ball pretty damn far...... maybe even over those moutains. The Browns should sign me, i'll let you all in locker room to drink beer. Then we can all go out the parking lot to watch me do motorcycle stunts.